Standing up to the bully.
Reporting the abusive coworker.
Leaving behind the spouse who hurts you.
It is not about getting into fights and trying to win.
It is about realizing your potential
and not letting anyone else define you.
Progress
Can be so hard to see in a positive light.
Society deems it inevitable.
Yet there are many times
when the progress of time seems to have stopped
or reversed.
It is most notable in the children.
For good or ill
when they stop doing a behaviour
you start wondering if you will ever see
the good old days before such progress came along.
Reading a Poem
A few words
or a lengthy discussion.
Emotions invoked
a variety at a time.
A poet’s reading
causes a different interpretation.
All are valid.
Everyone of them unique.
Yet a poem
is nothing more than a scribble in time.
Open
It’s free
But you have to pay for it!
Wait,
Are we real?
When did that arrive?
Am I your daddy
Or did you hatch?
The internet is weird!
To Vote or not to Vote
There should be no question.
If you don’t vote you won’t be heard.
Yet many feel downtrodden
a hopeless sense of despair
of nothing they do will matter.
I understand.
Yet remember.
No vote is a wasted vote.
It may not be heard this time,
but someday your voice will be heard.
The Quietest Voice
So much yelling.
Shouting over everything.
No one listening.
The quiet ones speak.
Their voices gain strength.
They will be heard.
Not through shouting.
No.
Consistently speaking.
Saying in their quiet way.
The changes that are coming.
They remain calm.
The shouters keep shouting.
Changes will come.
Half Baked Ideas
The thoughts that I can do this.
I should do this!
I can do this!
I did some of it.
A little more done.
Eh! It’s too much work!
I don’t have the time right now.
I’ll get back to it later.
…
A year later upon review
“What was I thinking!”
Good Intentions
When the lettuce wilts in the fridge.
The carrots get all slimy.
Cucumbers give off that horrible smell.
You find mold on the tomatoes.
The bottle of dressing won’t open
because of leftover caked on residue.
All because you reach for the bag of chips instead.
Roll Suck Vacuum
It moves across the foot trafficked carpet.
Rolling on top of the dirt trapped between fibers.
It draws them out from their hiding places
as they scream silently from this intrusion.
The hurricane forces sucking the very life
out of the microbial germs that sought to merely live.
After a time it ceases to roar
The contents it had acquired removed
before it is placed back in its resting spot
ready and waiting for the next hunt for dirt and cleanliness.
What People Hear Versus What I Say
When I say I am strange,
They nod their heads wisely.
When I say I am not normal,
They concur in an agreeable pomposity.
When I say I am ill,
They laugh and tell me it’s all in my head.
Yes.
Yes. It is!
It is all in my head
and they won’t listen to me!
Which is why I get no help for the illness
that hurts me the most.
Saturn's Premier Poet 